The final issue of Gnarled Oak has been compiled as online and PDF issues, available free at the journal’s web page. Titled Walking through Clouds, this is issue number 15. The editor has been slowly publishing the contents piece by piece over the last month or so, and now the issue is complete. I’m pleased to say it includes my short video poem “Crushed Bits” alongside the textual micropoetry and microfiction. Short reads for your lazy summer dayz.
Just noticed that issue 7.1 of online poetry journal Poetry Pacific was released on May 5. This one includes my poem “Prayers of the Day.” You can check it out here.
Online literary journal focuses on experimental visual and text works. The new issue #31 is out. I’m pleased to be part of this one with six poems: “Joys of Doggerland,” “Dimming of the Haruspex,” “Standing Stone,” “Electromagnetic Pulse,” “Efface the New Caesar,” and “Cold Fortress.” You can read them here.
All these pieces are based on various lost cities or civilizations around the world. This series was inspired by current US affairs, which really made me think about the fragility of languages, cultures and nations.
I’m pleased to announce that online poetry journal Mad Swirl published my poem “Rabbit Lies Scheming” today. You can read it here.
I wrote a few poems with a trickster rabbit as a main character–not so much inspired by Bugs Bunny as the Mayan Rabbit. In this one, Rabbit plots a hold-up, “dreaming of a better life so you won’t have to.”
An online publication, Night Garden Journal (formerly Black Poppy Review) focuses on darker poetry. I’m pleased to report that my poem “No Love Like the Sun” appeared in the journal today. You can read it here.
Very pleased to report that online journal Anti-Heroin Chic published three of my poems today: “Taking Home the Pictures,” “Ouija Gets Bent,” and “Sorry No Obi.” You can read them here.
The lead poem comes from a cross country road trip back in the 90s with two of my best friends. I believe we were in El Paso when the TV showed footage of OJ Simpson escaping police in Los Angeles. For some reason that seemed kind of funny, but a couple weeks in a Metro Geo will do that to you.
The Ouija piece is another of that series featuring the eponymous planchette as a “real girl” having metalingual adventures. I wrote “Sorry No Obi” after listing a compact disc for sale on Discogs and realizing that descriptive phrase would make a good poem title.
I’m pleased to report that online journal Outlaw Poetry published three of my poems today: “Cosmic Convenience Store,” “The Clover Trick,” and “Discount Radio.” You can read them here.
The first one features Ouija, the metalanguage planchette engaged in some intergalactic communication–part of a series of pieces featuring this character. The others are more or less surrealistic rants about something or other.
Very pleased to see the new issue of Otoliths released today. This is number 49, the “Southern Autumn” issue. It’s another huge compendium documenting the international “scene” for out-poetry in text, video, image and other (unknown) formats. Editor Mark Young titled my section of Gonch materials “The World According to Gonch.” That’s a phrase I wish I’d thought of myself. Anyway, it encompasses three text poems and eight images from the Gonchlog (example above).
The text pieces are all written using a language deriving from the nonsense phrase “All Gonch,” intending to explore the language and culture of a post-American landscape. In another phase of the Gonch project, I go through consumer magazines to remove the five letters of “Gonch” and affix them to accounting paper. The name of the magazine, its publication date and issue numbers are noted. So far I’ve done about 200 of these images.
You can check it out here.
Very pleased to announce the latest Zoomoozophone Review has been released today. This is issue 16 of the experimental poetry journal, including great text and visual work from a host of familiar “scene” figures: Mark Young, Sanjeev Sethi, Clara B. Jones, billy bob beamer, Heath Brougher, Stephanie McElrath, and Xan Schwartz, among others. There are also three of my Gonch poems: “Hoc Analla Hoc,” “Allonach Gonchon Canca Gohl,” and “Achanalla Chaanlang.”
You can check out the whole issue here.
All the Gonch pieces were written using a vocabulary limited to words invented from the nonsense phrase “All Gonch.” It’s an attempt to create a new language, imagining also the culture behind it through the shape and structure of the words, that might arise after the death of the current (American) culture and language.
The third issue of Angry Old Man journal was issued yesterday, this one including work from two phases of my Gonch project in a special section. This includes three Gonch text poems based on a vocabulary improvised from the phrase “All Gonch,” as well as images of the word “Gonch” spelled out ransom-note style in letters cut out from consumer magazines. The texts are “Gallonchan, Anc Nochal,” “Anch Angollach, Llanach Ang Ganallah,” “Ganchanallach Anchon Naalano.” You can read them here.
From my note to editor Drew David: “I go through consumer magazines and cut out the five letters of “gonch” and glue them onto accounting paper. The intention is to draw out that key nonsense word from these propaganda vehicles in order to find the way forward. Or something like that. I’ve done about 200 of these images so far; the ones here are the first six that I did.”
Definitely check this issue out. Angry Old Man looks to be one of those journals of record for the contemporary avant garde scene, much like Otoliths. Not to be missed.
jeff bagato 